Live-in Care in Notting Hill

We can arrange live-in care in Notting Hill if the home has a bedroom the carer can use. The carer moves in, follows a written care plan for personal care, meals, medication and company, and takes a daily break. Jackie, our registered manager, visits first for a free assessment, and because the carer stays put, the trip across London from our Lewisham office is made only at the start and end of each placement.

Is there room for a live-in carer in a Notting Hill flat?

It depends on how the old house was divided. The stucco terraces and villas around Ladbroke Square, Kensington Park Road and the streets off Westbourne Grove were mostly split into flats long ago, and the result varies from floor to floor:

• Maisonettes and lateral flats spread across two floors, or across two knocked-together houses, often have a second bedroom. These are the homes where live-in care usually works.
• One-bedroom conversions, especially the top-floor flats under the roof, almost never have space. A box room or a study can work if a single bed fits and the door closes. A sofa in the sitting room won't do.
• Council and housing association flats near Colville and Powis Square range from one-bed to family-sized. A two-bedroom flat that has emptied as children left home is often the answer.

If there is truly no room, visiting care in Notting Hill is the alternative, though visit times depend on which carers we have available in W11.

Stairs, and why the bedroom floor matters

Most converted houses here have no lift. With a carer living in, the person no longer has to manage the stairs alone, but the carer can't carry anyone up them either. Before a placement starts we work out which floor the person will sleep, wash and spend the day on, and whether they can still get down to the street with a carer's arm. In a maisonette where the bathroom is on the other floor from the bedroom, a commode or a second toilet may be needed. The council's occupational therapists can assess for rails, a stairlift where the stair is wide enough, or bathroom changes.

Dementia, and one familiar face

For someone whose memory is failing, the same carer in the flat every day is often easier than a series of visitors at the door. The dementia care we plan with a live-in carer covers the things that start to slip: meals, medicines, washing, and the walk to the shops that keeps a person connected to their street. Notting Hill has two useful resources close by. The Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster Memory Service, run by CNWL, has its Memory and Dementia Resource Centre at 42 Westbourne Park Road. Age UK Kensington & Chelsea's dementia and memory loss service offers one-to-one support for over-55s and memory cafés that a carer can take someone along to.

Changeover days, Carnival and market crowds

When one carer hands over to the next, both need to reach the flat with a suitcase. Notting Hill Gate (Central, District and Circle lines) serves the southern streets; Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove (Hammersmith & City and Circle) are closer for the northern end of Portobello Road. We avoid planning a changeover for the August bank holiday weekend, when Carnival closes streets and stations get very crowded. A busy Saturday on Portobello Road is a smaller version of the same problem.

Relatives who drive over to meet a new carer should know that Kensington and Chelsea doesn't issue visitor parking permits. Residents' bays are for permit holders only, so visitors use pay-to-park bays.

Coming home from St Mary's

St Mary's in Paddington is the nearest A&E for Notting Hill. A live-in carer suits the first weeks home, when there may be new medicines and the stairs feel steeper than before. Ring us when the ward first mentions discharge, not on the day, so there is time to assess and introduce a carer. See hospital discharge care.

Paying for it

We quote in writing after the free assessment, not over the phone. Council funding, direct payments and the means test are explained on our Kensington and Chelsea live-in care page. Where health needs dominate, ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare. The basics of how a placement runs are on our London live-in care page.

What we can help with in Notting Hill

• A carer living in, with their own room
• Care for one person or a couple
• Personal care through the day
• Medication support
• Cooking, housekeeping and laundry
• Dementia support at home
• Company, outings and appointments
• Cover arranged for the carer's breaks